How to spot Iridium satellites with bare eyes: Difference between revisions

[[Satellite tracking]] is possible with the naked eye. Some satellites have large reflecting surfaces and under certain conditions they reflect sunlight to the earth thus rendering them visible. The design of Iridium telecommunication satellites is pandering reflections to the earth. Their [http://www.satobs.org/iridium.html antennae are flat and reflecting], thus they can be visible even during the day. At night they are a spectacle to watch. The perfect conditions are that the sun is shining on the satellite (no no other celestial body is obstructing the suns rays), the satellite is in a perfect angle towards the observer and he looks at a dark (night) and unobstructed (not cloudy) sky. The satellite will reflect light to the earth just like a cone of light by a spotlight in the dark. When the observer is in the centre of the trajectory of this reflection the satellite appears the brightest, the farther away your position is from the centre, the dimmer it is. Since the reflection passes it will appear for the observer as if the satellite becomes brighter and then dimmer again, this is what is called a “flare”.